Police say Norwich stabbing stemmed from high school dispute

The 18-year-old victim of a June 8 stabbing in downtown Norwich told friends he had been attacked by a group of people with whom he had a long-standing dispute from attending Ledyard High School together.

Eighteen-year-old Tomar Gibson of Norwich, who was treated and released from The William W. Backus Hospital after being stabbed multiple times in the leg and buttocks, was not cooperative with the police investigation of the incident, according to a court document. He told police he was attacked by strangers who arrived in a green Honda and that it was a case of mistaken identity.

Police identified the alleged stabber, 21-year-old Sequoya C. Reels-Felder of Mashantucket, after speaking with other witnesses, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Reels-Felder was arraigned today in Superior Court in Norwich on a charge of first-degree assault. He had been arrested in Providence and was returned to Connecticut after waiving extradition. Judge Kevin P. McMahon set his bond at $250,000 and continued the case to Nov. 29.

His brother, Jukumu Reels, 22, of 8 Elizabeth George Drive, Mashantucket, was charged Nov. 4 with accessory to first-degree assault and second-degree reckless endangerment, according to court records. He is free on a $150,000 bond and is due back in court on Nov. 28.

It is unclear whether police expect additional arrests.

According to the court document, Gibson and a friend were walking on Cliff Street when the two brothers approached in a 2012 Ford Explorer driven by Jukumu Reels. Witnesses said Reels struck Gibson in the back of the legs with the vehicle, knocking him to the ground. Reels and Reels-Felder exited the vehicle, and Reels-Felder stabbed Gibson with a knife, according to the witnesses. The two men got back in the car and drove away.

Police said that after receiving reports of a stabbing, they found drops of blood and bloody footprints leading from the intersection of Park and Cliff streets to the victim’s Franklin Street apartment.

The witnesses said that after the incident, Reels told his brother he “should have finished the job,” according to the affidavit. Reels-Felder wrapped the knife he had used in a T-shirt and threw it into a wooded area on Talman Street, according to one witness. Police searched the area but did not recover the knife.